Pogacar closing in on third Tour de France title after 4th stage win

Tadej Pogacar a giant step closer to clinching a third de France Tour title by winning another tough mountain stage on Friday

Pogacar pulled away from Jonas Vingegaard  on the steep slopes of Isola 2000 to finished 5 minutes and 3 seconds ahead of his main rival with two days left.

“Now I have a good lead,” Pogacar said. "I will do the last two days of the Tour on the roads where I have trained my entire professional career.”

The Slovenian looks almost certain to reclaim the Tour crown from Vingegaard, the two-time defending champion from Denmark, and in doing so secure the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double.

Behind a struggling Vingegaard sits Tour debutant Belgian Remco Evenepoel, who is 7m 1s adrift in third place.

Pogacar attacked with about nine kilometers left on the final climb of the 16 kilometers long climb to the top of the Isola 2000 ski resort. Vingegaard could not follow as Pogacar chased after the Dane's Jumbo Visma teammate, Matteo Jorgenson. The American rider attacked the rest of the breakaway with Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates left chasing.

Carapaz and Yates were caught by Pogacar. Jorgenson was finally overtaken with two kilometers left as the UAE Team Emirates leader soared to his fourth stage win at this year's Tour — holding up four fingers to the fans — and 15th Tour stage victory of his career.

“As I approached the last two kilometers, I felt a little drained. I still caught Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates and I could catch up with Matteo Jorgenson," Pogacar said. "When it was time to pass him, I pushed as hard as possible to overtake him with speed. He was very strong today, as were all the guys in the breakaway. Hats off to them.”

After four hours in the saddle, Pogacar raised both hands in the air as he crossed the line. Jorgensen was 21 seconds behind and Yates 40 seconds back in third. Carapaz was 1m 11s back in fourth spot.

“I knew today’s last climb very well. With the team, we planned it well and we did exactly as we had planned," Pogacar said. "Our race was 100% perfect today."

Evenepoel placed fifth ahead of a disconsolate Vingegaard, with both riders timed at 1m 42a behind Pogacar.

Saturday's 20th and penultimate stage stays in the southern Alps and features three hard category 1 ascents, the last taking the riders up Col de la Couillole.

The Tour ends on Sunday on the French Riviera with a time trail from Monaco to Nice, and not in Paris because of the Olympic Games.

Friday’s high-altitude stage may have been Vingegaard’s last chance to take significant time back from Pogacar.

Two of Vingegaard’s Visma teammates — Jorgensen and Dutchman Wilko Kelderman — positioned themselves at the front of a small breakaway and set a strong pace in hot conditions.

The 145-kilometer (90-mile) trek featured two huge climbs known as “hors categorie” (beyond category).

The first came early in the stage, up Col de Vars, and the second just after halfway, to Cime de la Bonette, France’s highest road at an altitude of 2,802 meters.

Despite having two riders at the front, Vingegaard did not attack Pogacar.

After a long descent, there was another hard grind to Isola 2000. Vingegaard could not catch Pogacar and, instead, found himself under pressure from Evenepoel, who just beat him in a sprint to the line.

It was a day to forget for Vingegaard, and another one to savor for Pogacar.

“Reaching the score of 15 Tour stage victories is quite formidable," he said.

VIDEO: Stage 19 Highlights

Stage 19 Top 10

1   POGACAR Tadej UAE Team Emirates 210 04:04:03
2   JORGENSON Matteo Team Visma | Lease a Bike 150 + 21
3   YATES Simon Team Jayco-AlUla 110 + 40
4   CARAPAZ Richard EF Education-EasyPost 90 + 01:11
5   EVENEPOEL Remco Soudal Quick-Step 70 + 01:42
6   VINGEGAARD Jonas Team Visma | Lease a Bike 55 + 01:42
7   ALMEIDA Joao UAE Team Emirates 45 + 02:00
8   LANDA Mikel Soudal Quick-Step 40 + 02:00
9   KELDERMAN Wilco Team Visma | Lease a Bike 35 + 02:52
10   GEE Derek Israel-Premier Tech 30 + 03:27

GC after Stage 10

1    POGACAR Tadej UAE Team Emirates 78:49:20
2    VINGEGAARD Jonas Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 05:03
3    EVENEPOEL Remco Soudal Quick-Step + 07:01
4    ALMEIDA Joao UAE Team Emirates + 15:07
5    LANDA Mikel Soudal Quick-Step + 15:34
6    RODRIGUEZ Carlos INEOS Grenadiers + 17:36
7    YATES Adam UAE Team Emirates + 19:18
8     GEE Derek Israel-Premier Tech + 21:52
9    JORGENSON Matteo Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 22:43
10    CICCONE Giulio Lidl-Trek + 22:46